Motorcycle helmet

ABSTRACT

A motorcycle helmet having a jaw guard, shield and visor, all of which can be pivoted with one hinge point, is disclosed. The helmet comprises a helmet body  10 , a jaw guard  20  which protects the jaw of the wearer by covering part of said opening  11  of said helmet body  10 , a shield  30  which opens and closes the remaining part of said opening  11  above said jaw guard  20 , a visor  40  which intercepts sunlight incoming into part of said opening  11  in said helmet body  10 , and a fastening screw  50  which is screwed to pivot holes  12  on both left and right sides of said helmet body  10  so as to pivotably move all of the hinge portion  22  of said jaw guard  20 , the latch pivot portion  32  of said shield  30 , and the lever mechanisms  42  of said visor  40  by making pivot holes  12  as a hinge point.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a motorcycle helmet, and morespecifically to a motorcycle helmet wherein a shield, visor and jawguard are configured so as to be rotated with one hinge point to make iteasy to assemble and use, while the operation and structure of the visorare modularized into one to reduce cost and improve productivity.

2. Description of the Related Art

Motorcycle riders must wear a safety helmet to protect the head and thefront of helmet should have a shield installed to prevent sightobstruction and breathing difficulty due to winds blowing from front.

And to protect the jaw of the wearer, a jaw guard is provided at thebottom of the helmet in the jaw portion. Both ends of this jaw guard arepivotably mounted on hinge portions installed on both left and rightsides of the helmet body, so as to be adjusted suitably according to theshape of the face of the wearer.

Also, a visor can be provided to intercept sunlight coming directly intothe eye in daytime. Such a visor is also pivotably mounted on the hingeportions installed on both left and right sides for use by moving up ordown as necessary.

As described above, the conventional helmet has components that need tobe opened or closed as necessary, such as the jaw guard, shield andvisor, but conventionally there were no helmets in which these threecomponents can be opened and closed around one shaft.

In the visor of the conventional helmet, the visor portion that can beopened or closed, the pivot for opening and closing this visor, and theoperating lever are configured individually as separate parts and theyare in such a structure that makes it very difficult to assemble thesetogether with the shield and jaw guard, so it is not suitable for massproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amotorcycle helmet having a jaw guard, shield and visor, all of which canbe pivoted around one pivot shaft.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a motorcyclehelmet wherein all the modules can be easily assembled in one placeafter the modularized visor parts of an opening and closing structureare produced separately in another production place.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a motorcyclehelmet comprising: a helmet body in which an opening for the face isprovided on front and pivot holes are formed on both left and rightsides; a jaw guard which protects the jaw of the wearer by covering partof the opening of the helmet body and which can be pivotably moved byhinge portions provided on the extending portions of both left and rightsides as a hinge point; a shield which opens and closes the remainingpart of the opening above the jaw guard and which can be pivotably movedby latch pivot portions provided on extending portions on both left andright sides as a hinge point; a visor which intercepts sunlight incominginto part of the opening in the helmet body and which can be pivotablymoved by the lever mechanisms on both left and right sides havingcontrol levers as a hinge point; and a fastening screw which is screwedto pivot holes on both left and right sides of the helmet body so as topivotably move all of the hinge portion of the jaw guard, the latchpivot portion of the shield, and the lever mechanisms of the visor bymaking pivot holes as a hinge point.

Preferably, the visor is modularized by comprising a visor bodyincluding a visor portion for intercepting sunlight incoming into partof the opening in the helmet body, and extending portions extended toleft and right from the visor portions and having visor pivot holes andlever inserting holes formed at the position eccentric with the visorpivot hole; a control lever including a protuberance at one end thereofwhich is inserted into the lever inserting hole of the visor body, and alever pivot hole at the other end thereof; a lever arm which is insertedinto the lever pivot hole of the control lever; a fastening plate whichhas a visor pivot inserted into the visor pivot hole of the visor bodyand a lever pivot inserted into the lever pivot hole of the controllever, and which can fix these on the inside of the helmet body; a guideflap which is fixed at one end of the lever arm of the control lever tobe introduced within a predetermined range of movement according to therotation of the lever arm; and an adjusting knob which is joined to thelever arm of the control lever by passing through the guide flap andmoves within a predetermined range along an arc hole formed on the sideof the helmet body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and aspects of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description of embodiments with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a helmet according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the helmet according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view showing the assembly structure ofthe helmet according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a lateral view showing the operation state of a jaw guard ofthe helmet according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a lateral view showing the operation state of a shield of thehelmet according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a lateral view showing the operation state of a visor of thehelmet according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a visor according to the presentinvention in a modularized state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Below will be described in more detail a motorcycle helmet according tothe present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a helmet according to the presentinvention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the helmetaccording to the present invention.

As shown in these drawings, the helmet according to the presentinvention includes a jaw guard 20 for covering the opening 11 in ahelmet body 10, a shield 30 and a visor 40. These parts are provided allon one pivot shaft for each to operate pivotably.

For this, on both left and right sides of the helmet body 10 are formedpivot holes 12.

And, the jaw guard 20 for protecting the jaw of the wearer by coveringpart of the opening 11 of the helmet body 10 is pivotably mounted on thehelmet body 10 by hinge portions 22 arranged on both sides of theextending portions 21 of the jaw guard 20.

And, the shield 30 that can close or open the remaining part of theopening 11 above the jaw guard 20 is mounted pivotably on the helmetbody 10 by latch pivot portions 32 formed on both ends of the extendingportions 31 of the shield 30.

The visor 40 that is arranged over the top of the opening 11 in thehelmet body 10 to intercept sunlight is pivotably mounted on the helmetbody 10 by lever mechanisms 42 installed at both ends of the visor 40.The lever mechanism 42 includes a control lever 42 a for adjusting theangle of the visor 40.

To assemble, as shown in FIG. 3, the hinge portion 22 of the jaw guard20, the latch pivot portion 32 of the shield 30 and the lever mechanism42 of the visor 40 are pivotably mounted on both left and right sides ofthe helmet body 10 all by a fastening screw 50. The fastening screw 50passes through the hinge portions 22 and the latch pivot portion 32 insequence to be inserted into the pivot holes 12 formed on the left andright sides of the helmet body 10 before it is screwed to a fasteningplate 43.

At this time, the jaw guard 20 and the shield 30, as shown in FIG. 3,are pivotably mounted on the helmet body 10 by the fastening screw 50through a mounting plate 23. Also, a spacer 24 is sandwiched between themounting plate 23 and the fastening screw 50.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, a hinge hole 23 a, into which thefastening screw 50 is inserted, is formed in the hinge portion 22 of thejaw guard 20 corresponding to the pivot hole 12, and a through hole 23 bcorresponding to the hinge hole 23 a is formed in the mounting plate 23,so that the fastening screw 50 passes through these hinge holes 23 a,through holes 23 b and the pivot holes 12 of the helmet body 10 insequence to be screwed to the fastening plate 43.

The mounting plate 23 is provided with a guide lip 23 c and the spacer24 is provided with a concave-convex portion 24 a corresponding to theguide lip 23 c so as to make it possible to fix the jaw guard 20 in adesired position. This is roughly similar to the structure of aconventional motorcycle helmet, so detailed description of this isomitted.

Also, in order to adjust and fix the height of the shield 30 at adesired position, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, an arc slot 34 having alatch 33 is formed in the latch pivot portion 32 and a latchprotuberance 23 d having elasticity is formed in the mounting plate 23.Therefore, it is possible to fix the shield 30 by adjusting the heightto a desired position by rotating around the pivot hole 12 by the latch33 of the latch pivot portion 32 and the latch protuberance 23 d of themounting plate 23.

Meanwhile, the visor 40, as shown in FIGS. 2, 6 and 7, has a structureentirely different from the conventional one.

Namely, the visor 40 is modularized with a visor body 41, the controllever 42 a, the fastening plate 43, a guide flap 42 f and an adjustingknob 42 so as to have a structural characteristic for improving theproductivity and assemblability of parts.

The visor body 41 comprises a visor portion 41 a for intercepting partof the opening 11 in the helmet body 10, and extending portions 41 dextended to the left and right from the visor portion 41 a. In theextending portion 41 d of the visor body 41 are formed a visor pivothole 41 b into which the visor pivot 43 b of the fastening plate 43 isinserted and a lever inserting hole 41 c for connecting the controllever 42 a.

And, the control lever 42 a includes a protuberance 42 b at one endthereof which is inserted into the lever inserting hole 41 c of thevisor body 41, and a lever pivot hole 42 c at the other end thereof. Alever arm 42 d is inserted into the lever pivot hole 42 c of the controllever 42 a.

The fastening plate 43 has a visor pivot 43 b which is inserted into thevisor pivot hole 41 b of the visor body 41, and a lever pivot 43 a whichis inserted into the lever pivot hole 42 c of the control lever 42 a,and which can fix these on the inside of the helmet body 10.

Also, as shown in FIG. 6, the control lever 42 a has a guide flap 42 fwhich is fixed at the end of the lever arm 42 d. When the end of thelever arm 42 pivots, this guide flap 42 f allows it be introduced alonga predetermined range of motion. And, at the end of the lever arm 42 dis joined the adjusting knob 42 e after passing through the guide flap42 f. This adjusting knob 42 e rotates the lever arm 42 d, when theheight of the visor 40 is to be adjusted using the control lever 42 a.The lever arm 42 d can be moved by the adjusting knob 42 e within apredetermined range along an arch hole 13 formed on the side of thehelmet body 10.

And, on the inside of the arc hole 13 are formed a plurality of catchslots 13 a in which the protruded portion of the adjusting knob 42 e isinserted. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to fix the visor40 in a desired ascent or descent position by matching the adjustingknob 42 e with any one of these catch slots 13 a.

Accordingly, when the helmet wearer holds the adjusting knob 42 e andmoves along the arc hole 13, the lever arm 42 d moves pivotably in thelever pivot hole 42 c as a hinge point. Since the visor body 41 is movedup or down with the visor pivot hole 41 b as a hinge point according asthe control lever 42 a is moved, the visor 40 can be accurately movedinto the position of the wearer's field of vision.

Because the protruded portion of the adjusting knob 42 e is inserted inthe catch slot 13 a in a state operated like this, it is possible tomaintain the moved position as it is, even after the adjusting knob 42 eis moved to a desired position.

As described above, it is possible to enhance productivity by reducingcost and assembly time by reducing the related parts, because thepresent invention has made the jaw guard, shield and visor movepivotably centering on one hinge point. Also, since the wearer isprovided with all of the jaw guard, shield and visor, he can use eachelement easily when necessary.

Furthermore, because it was made possible to produce the visorseparately in another production place by modularizing the parts of itsopening and closing structure, the productivity and assemblability forall the modules are improved.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with theexemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, it is onlyillustrative. It will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and equivalents can be made to the presentinvention. Therefore, the true technical scope of the present inventionshould be defined by the appended claims.

1. A motorcycle helmet comprising: a helmet body 10 in which an opening11 for the face is provided on front and pivot holes 12 are formed onboth left and right sides; a jaw guard 20 which protects the jaw of thewearer by covering part of said opening 11 of said helmet body 10 andwhich can be pivotably moved by hinge portions 22 provided on theextending portions 21 of both left and right sides as a hinge point; ashield 30 which opens and closes the remaining part of said opening 11above said jaw guard 20 and which can be pivotably moved by latch pivotportions 32 provided on extending portions 31 on both left and rightsides as a hinge point; a visor 40 which intercepts sunlight incominginto part of said opening 11 in said helmet body 10 and which can bepivotably moved by the lever mechanisms 42 on both left and right sideshaving control levers 42 a as a hinge point; and a fastening screw 50which is screwed to pivot holes 12 on both left and right sides of saidhelmet body 10 so as to pivotably move all of the hinge portion 22 ofsaid jaw guard 20, the latch pivot portion 32 of said shield 30, and thelever mechanisms 42 of said visor 40 by making pivot holes 12 as a hingepoint.
 2. The motorcycle helmet according to claim 1, wherein said visor40 is modularized by comprising a visor body 41 including a visorportion 41 a for intercepting sunlight incoming into part of saidopening 11 in said helmet body 10, and extending portions 41 d extendedto left and right from said visor portions 41 a and having visor pivotholes 41 b and lever inserting holes 41 c formed at the positioneccentric with the visor pivot hole 41 b; a control lever 42 a includinga protuberance 42 b at one end thereof which is inserted into the leverinserting hole 41 c of the visor body 41, and a lever pivot hole 42 c atthe other end thereof; a lever arm 42 d which is inserted into the leverpivot hole 42 c of the control lever 42 a; a fastening plate 43 whichhas a visor pivot 43 b inserted into the visor pivot hole 41 b of saidvisor body 41 and a lever pivot 43 a inserted into the lever pivot hole42 c of said control lever 42 a, and which can fix these on the insideof said helmet body 10; a guide flap 42 f which is fixed at one end ofthe lever arm 42 d of said control lever 42 a to be introduced within apredetermined range of movement according to the rotation of the leverarm 42 d; and an adjusting knob 42 e which is joined to the lever arm 42d of said control lever 42 a by passing through said guide flap 42 f andmoves within a predetermined range along an arc hole 13 formed on theside of said helmet body 10.